Amede Soundsmith emits a compelling piece to his unfinished puzzle. With each lyric, note and chord he manages to create a distinctive portrait. Drawing outlines with his unorthodox approach, sending us on a voyage, venturing from London to an ever-expanding pool of inspiration. L.James managed to catch up with him to discuss the new project “Flashing Lights”…

L.James: What is the difference between your last EP “Flat17” and “Flashing Lights”?

Amede: Well. Flat 17 is a building and Flashing Lights are very sparkly. Only kidding. They both have their similarities in terms of how both track lists are structured, with them having a mix of instrumental pieces and full songs, I am a beat junkie at the end of the day. The most significant differences would probably be the concepts, Flat17 didn’t really have one. It was created in my first year of university and I was just hearing tonnes of fresh music in London at the time and I just wanted to be part of that explosion of art. Flashing Lights on the other hand, took a little bit more time to put together as I wanted to build a body of work which would be a better reflection of my personal zeitgeist as I’ve matured a lot over that past three years.

L.James: What imagery do the songs create/ where are you looking to take your audience when they hear your sounds.

Amede: I tend to ask my others this question but If I were to summaries an answer for you, I would say that I like to create pieces of music which creates the illusion of standing on top of a mountain peak or a tall skyscraper with my ribcage opened up as I inhale fresh air directly into my chest. Weird right? Other things would be blurred nostalgic memories at fun fairs, spinning on the roundabout as a kid, long train journeys and interactions with people from my yesteryears. I tend not to forget things like that.

L.James: Where has the title emerged from and does this affect the sounds you have created?

Amede: The title FLASHINGlights is a metaphor for success. I’ve just turned 22 with a bright future ahead of me so I am constantly thinking about my career, the family that I aspire to have as well as where I plan to raise them. Flashing Lights was created with the idea of having the listener empathise with a person who is battling with dividing time between their lover and what they love doing. You can think of flashing lights as a milestone or a warning sign and the songs could be about a lover or those things he or she are battling with.

The project brewed itself in a very organic manner. I was listening to a few beats I created in a playlist in my iTunes and a few of them just worked really well together, from then on it was a game of adding, removing, carving and shaping. The songs where recorded a while back, about six months after FLAT17 but I felt that they would work really well with this concept of flashing lights. Everything happens for a reason.

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